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Dallaire N, Boileau NT, Myers I, Brixi S, Ourabi M, Raluchukwu E, Cranston R, Lamontagne HR, King B, Ronnasi B, Melville OA, Manion JG, Lessard BH. High Throughput Characterization of Organic Thin Film Transistors. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024:e2406105. [PMID: 39149766 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202406105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2024] [Revised: 07/29/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
Automation is vital to accelerating research. In recent years, the application of self-driving labs to materials discovery and device optimization has highlighted many benefits and challenges inherent to these new technologies. Successful automated workflows offer tangible benefits to fundamental science and industrial scale-up by significantly increasing productivity and reproducibility all while enabling entirely new types of experiments. However, it's implemtation is often time-consuming and cost-prohibitive and necessitates establishing multidisciplinary teams that bring together domain-specific knowledge with specific skillsets in computer science and engineering. This perspective article provides a comprehensive overview of how the research group has adopted "hybrid automation" over the last 8 years by using simple automatic electrical testers (autotesters) as a tool to increase productivity and enhance reproducibility in organic thin film transistor (OTFT) research. From wearable and stretchable electronics to next-generation sensors and displays, OTFTs have the potential to be a key technology that will enable new applications from health to aerospace. The combination of materials chemistry, device manufacturing, thin film characterization and electrical engineering makes OTFT research challenging due to the large parameter space created by both diverse material roles and device architectures. Consequently, this research stands to benefit enormously from automation. By leveraging the multidisciplinary team and taking a user-centered design approach in the design and continued improvement of the autotesters, the group has meaningfully increased productivity, explored research avenues impossible with traditional workflows, and developed as scientists and engineers capable of effectively designing and leveraging automation to build the future of their fields to encourage this approach, the files for replicating the infrastructure are included, and questions and potential collaborations are welcomed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Dallaire
- School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, 800 King Edward Ave., Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Nicholas T Boileau
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Ian Myers
- University of Ottawa Electronics shop, University of Ottawa, 150 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Samantha Brixi
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - May Ourabi
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Ewenike Raluchukwu
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Rosemary Cranston
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Halynne R Lamontagne
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, 150 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Benjamin King
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Bahar Ronnasi
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Owen A Melville
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Acceleration Consortium, University of Toronto, 80 St George St, Toronto, ON, M5S 3H6, Canada
| | - Joseph G Manion
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Benoît H Lessard
- School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, 800 King Edward Ave., Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Ottawa, 161 Louis Pasteur, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
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